Route change called desperate, last-minute act

THE OLYMPIC TORCH IN S.F.

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, April 10, 2008

On Wednesday April 9, 2008 in San Francisco , Calif
Photo By Kurt Rogers / San Francisco Chronicle

On Wednesday April 9, 2008 in San Francisco , Calif
Photo By Kurt Rogers / San Francisco Chronicle

Photo: Kurt Rogers

Route change called desperate, last-minute act

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San Francisco officials spent months preparing for the arrival of the Olympic torch, but their decision Wednesday to cut the route short and drastically alter the torchbearers' path was an act of desperation just before opening ceremonies kicked off, sources said.

The move to scrap the city's highly publicized plans for runners to carry the torch from AT&T Park and along the city's scenic waterfront infuriated many protesters and torch supporters who waited for hours to spread their anti-China message or to catch a glimpse of the Olympic flame.

But Mayor Gavin Newsom said he and Police Chief Heather Fong decided to change the route after realizing that police officers stationed along the designated path - especially near the ballpark and the Ferry Building, the relay's original start and finish - were overwhelmed by the size of the crowds and by skirmishes between torch supporters and protesters.

Newsom administration officials said the large group of pro-Tibet protesters marching in advance of the opening ceremony along the Embarcadero toward the ballpark was another reason for altering the route.

"We could not guarantee safety to all parties to the degree we had hoped," Newsom said.

Even with 700 San Francisco police officers and an unknown number of other public safety agencies on hand, law enforcement officials said they could not secure entire blocks of barricades along the initial 6-mile-long route. Police cited three people for resisting arrest.

Newsom said he and Fong decided to alter the route at 11 a.m., after he met with torchbearers gathered at the Hilton Hotel - then changed the route again shortly before the 1 p.m. ceremony when they realized that huge numbers of protesters were gathering.

The mayor said the route that officials decided to use was one that he and Fong drew up on the fly, in part because a previous Olympic torch run through San Francisco had successfully passed through the Marina district.

Newsom boarded two buses filled with torchbearers and delivered the news to them.

Torchbearer Dean Karnazes said he and his fellow bearers did not know about the route change until 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, when Newsom boarded the buses and told of the change in plans.

"This was the first we knew about it," Karnazes said.

He added that in a briefing for the runners Tuesday afternoon, the mayor had warned them that the route could change and that the city might make that change for the sake of the runners' safety.

"What we did was by no stretch of the imagination what we initially intended, but we fulfilled everyone's rights," Newsom said.

Sheriff Michael Hennessey, who provided 50 deputies for the event, said "10,000 people are disappointed" as a result of moving the torch route, but millions of others are happy.

Hennessey said he was not involved in route-planning meetings and did not know the route would be changed until the decision was made.

"The planning was kept very close to the vest," he said. "I had troops on the ground, and I didn't know. They took direction from the Police Department.

"I wouldn't call it a stroke of genius, I would call it a stroke of logic," Hennessey added. "I think it was a well-executed plan that provided for the world to see it at a safe event and allowed the world to see the torch and it to be viewed safely."

One City Hall source familiar with police operations disputed officials' assertion that the decision to change the route was a last-minute one and said law enforcement brass actually knew hours before the relay began that the route would change.

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Hours before the opening ceremony's kickoff, there were no police barricades set up along the Embarcadero in an area near Fisherman's Wharf, even though city officials had advertised that area as included in the main relay route. Hundreds of spectators gathered along the sidewalks, where uniformed police officers told the crowd to stay back.

And elsewhere along the route, spectators were allowed to mill about in the streets even though police had said early in the day that they would arrest anyone who attempted to cross barricades.

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